SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - February 11, 2013) - Aragon Pharmaceuticals Inc., a leader in developing drugs for hormone driven cancers, today announced that Paul Cleveland has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy. In this role, Mr. Cleveland will be responsible for the company's finance, legal, investor relations and business development matters.

"We are pleased to welcome Paul to Aragon," said Richard A. Heyman, Ph.D., President and CEO of Aragon Pharmaceuticals. "His extensive experience across business development, legal, and finance in public and private companies will add tremendous value to the company. Paul joins Aragon at an optimal time, strengthening our management team and corporate development capabilities, as we continue to progress our pipeline, including ARN-509 into late stage clinical trials."

Prior to Aragon, Mr. Cleveland spent two years as a General Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Mohr Davidow Ventures. Previously, he spent five years at Affymax Inc., where he served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer, leading the Company through its successful public offering in 2006. Prior to Affymax, Mr. Cleveland was a Managing Director at JP Morgan (formerly Hambrecht & Quist), where he served as Head of West Coast Mergers and Acquisitions. He also brings to Aragon 15 years of experience as a practicing attorney, most recently as a Partner within the Corporate Group at Cooley Godward in Palo Alto, CA. Mr. Cleveland has served as a member of the Board of Directors of three biotechnology companies, and currently serves as a member of the Board of Sangamo Biosciences, Inc.

"I am excited to be joining such a high quality team as the company transitions to its next stage of corporate growth," said Mr. Cleveland. "There is nothing more gratifying than helping to develop treatment options for cancer patients in need."

About Aragon Pharmaceuticals

Aragon Pharmaceuticals is focused on the development of 2nd generation anti-hormonal agents for hormone-driven cancers. The company's portfolio of small molecule therapeutics is based upon pioneering research identifying key molecular events that lead to drug resistance to traditional anti-hormonal therapies. This work has broad implications for the development of breakthrough medicines for prostate cancer and other hormone-dependent cancers such as breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer. Aragon Pharmaceutical's most advanced compound, ARN-509, is an androgen receptor antagonist that is currently being evaluated in a Phase 2 trial in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer. In addition, Aragon Pharmaceuticals has a selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD) for hormone-sensitive and hormone-resistant estrogen receptor positive breast cancer targeted to begin clinical trials in 2013. Aragon is a private company founded in 2009 and headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information, visit